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Lately...

A few days ago I received an e-mail from someone who had happened along this blog. Occasionally this happens, and in spite of the very obvious fact that I haven't updated it in 6 months, again, I do try to respond to all travel related e-mails to the best of my knowledge. That being said, this e-mail was about a broken link in my blogroll, and if I was still writing a blog, I'd probably courteously reply and fix the problem. But I'm not.

Why?

Tiger & I at Durdle Door earlier in the year

Lately it seems my life has moved to different places than I had intended when I started this little blog. When I started writing I had a job in a pub that paid too little and took up too much time, but I stayed. Not because the job was enormously satisfying, but the people were, both the customers and those I worked for and with. I had a boss without whom I would never have done any of the things I have written about on this blog. His encouragement for me to get out and see the world was the reason for my first trip. This blog serves a purpose for me, and that was its intention from the beginning. Something I could look back on when life was hard, and remember trips I'd undertaken, crossing from the Arctic Circle all the way to Germany without once getting on an aeroplane (my intention had been to continue all the way to the UK without getting on an aeroplane, but alas! It was not to be), and doing this all alone- without a mobile phone, too, as I recall. Crossing Spain, fighting at La Tomatina, spectating at San Fermin. Partying in Transylvania at Hallowe'en. Spending a week on a boat in the Adriatic. Soaking in the thermal waters in the winter in Budapest...

Right now I'm particularly uncertain about my future. I have no job, and I'm not willing to go into another that I don't enjoy for the sake of earning something I have plentiful amounts of in the bank. I'm enjoying the British Summertime-- that thing really exists, you know? So far I have been to various beaches with my dog, taken him on walks before heading into the sea for a swim (yes, into the sea off the coast of the South of England, can you believe), and then retiring with a book- this week I have read Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, and have just moved onto The Road to Little Dribbling by one of my favourite authors, Bill Bryson. I felt reading about the UK whilst I'm here for the summer was a good way to remember where I wanted to visit whilst I can take the time to do so.

I'm by the S, these are some of my Glasto sisters

My plans are vague as ever. My parents leave the UK next year (Brexit allowing- a whole subject I won't get into on this blog), since I live with them, that renders me homeless (but it was always the plan that I stayed here & saved until they moved). I plan on living in a van after that. It's not just the freedom of a lack of rent, but the freedom not to be stuck in the UK, or not to have to say no to a job I wanted to do because I can't keep my dog in a tent. Someone asked if I'd get lonely, but honestly, I see so few people, outside my awesome Glasto fam, that I don't think that's possible. In an ideal world I'd chase festivals, I've fallen in love with that life, and my time in the real world is plagued by social norms and what's expected of me. Maybe I'll use the van and workaway to find places to go and then work a little as and when I need to.... Who knows where I'll end up.

For now, I'm traipsing around, with Tiger in tow, trying to keep up my Glasto tan-- apparently even if the heavens pretty much open for seven solid weeks you still get tanned if you live outdoors-- and I'm exploring beaches in the south west of England that allow dogs year round. As well as that, so far this summer I've finally learnt to SUP- paddleboarding is a great core work out, and you can take the board out and do yoga on it, too, if you're particularly balanced (like I am). Later in the summer I've managed to acquire a 3hr taster session for windsurfing down in Exmouth!

We'll see how that one goes...

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